


flights and visions

by spacebubble



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: 5 Times, Alien Sex, Bickering, Episode Related, Episode: s05e09 The Ascent, Fantasizing, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Oral Sex, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Resolved Sexual Tension, Sexual Tension, Smut, Solid!Odo, Some Humor, Tenderness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-03-27 03:27:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13872129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacebubble/pseuds/spacebubble
Summary: Five times Quark relied on his imagination to entertain himself during the shuttle ride to Inferna Prime, and one time he didn't have to rely on his imagination at all.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Odo's not necessarily in character for a good portion of this, but the reason should be self-evident enough, hopefully!
> 
> FYI - this _will_ get ribald. Blame it on Quark, tbh.
> 
> Tags don't necessarily correspond to the entirety of the fic, though the ones closer to the end do relate to the last +1 part. :)

The runabout buzzed with a steady electrical hum as Quark continued dealing fizzbin cards to himself.

He kept glancing back up occasionally, but the sight was always the same: Odo hadn't moved once. Smut-filled padd in hand, boots on the console, leaning heavily on one elbow, looking exactly the same as he did when Quark first wandered back into the cockpit. The Changeling who couldn't change his form anymore apparently decided he wouldn't bother changing his reading position either.

Quark preferred enjoying _his_ literature in the holosuites, like any other normal humanoid. It had been well established for centuries that most people preferred a little more interaction to their stories. But Odo just _had_ to be different, didn't he?

Stubborn old Changeling. Sitting like that had to be terrible for Odo's circulation.

Not that Quark cared about Odo's blood flow or health or anything about Odo's newly-solid body in general, of course. It was just that Odo was the only other person on this infernal runabout headed towards Inferna Prime, and Quark couldn't help thinking about him when he was sitting right there.

Quark leaned his chin on his palm and slouched over onto the console to get a better look at his boring travel companion.

He let his gaze drift away from the back of Odo's head and travel down the nape of his neck, noting the way Odo's shoulders filled out his security uniform. A hint of muscle swelled Odo's uniform sleeve. It wasn't much musculature, but Odo insisted on maintaining it, waking Quark up each morning with the sounds of his workout regimen - a strained grunt here, a heavy breath there, the folds of his exercise clothes stretching and twisting to an obnoxious degree.

(Odo had told him he could stay asleep for all he cared, but Quark couldn't fall back asleep with all that noise in his ears. The sound of cheap cloth rubbing against cheap cloth was more than Quark could stand, especially when it was accompanied by the sounds of cheap cloth rubbing against sweaty skin...)

Quark sighed to himself.

He really had to stop thinking about Odo's body, and Odo's long limbs, and how it might feel to climb on top of those bony beige legs until he was straddling Odo's lap like a shameless little -

Odo's head tilted, like he was listening to something, and Quark stopped breathing.

For a second, he thought Odo would turn around and grumble about his filthy mind.

When Odo didn't, Quark exhaled slowly in relief.

Oh, right. Changelings weren't telepathic.

And even if they were, Odo didn't have any of his Changeling powers anymore.

He was just a regular old humanoid, with regular old humanoid skin and bones and organs...

Quark eyed him contemplatively, wondering how Odo would react if he tossed the Changeling's padd aside and showed him some _real_ smut.

He started to smile.

 

* * *

 

Quark barely had time to enjoy the surprised expression on Odo's face before Odo dragged him firmly onto his lap and kissed him senseless.

He whimpered into the kiss, placing his hands on Odo's chest to brace himself, and Odo went still, waiting to see if Quark would push him away, or maybe even push himself out of the kiss.

But Quark kept on kissing him, kept on allowing Odo to hold him close, so Odo held him even closer, rumbling deep within his chest as Quark's hands drifted up to cradle the back of his head. The vibrations echoed in Quark's sternum and he squirmed against Odo with a helpless noise, almost kneeing Odo in the stomach as he tried to readjust himself in Odo's lap.

With an irritated sound, Odo swiftly reached down and ran his hands along Quark's thighs, then manipulated Quark's legs so that Quark was straddling Odo before he had time to think, and by the time Quark was thinking again, he was already rocking his hips against Odo's with a shameless abandon.

Each and every movement made the seat creak obscenely underneath their shared weight, but Odo didn't seem to notice the noise. He was too busy trying to drive Quark out of his mind with the roughest oo-mox of Quark's life, all teeth and forcefulness as he nuzzled Quark's ear, one hand gripping the back of his neck to hold him in place, the other wrapped tightly around his waist.

Odo had already stripped him of his jacket and tossed it carelessly on the floor, coattails crumpling into a crimson mess. Without the additional layer of fabric between their bodies, Quark could easily feel the lewd outline of Odo's erection growing hard and thick beneath him, straining against the coarse material of Odo's uniform. He rolled his hips downwards and was rewarded with a low groan as Odo's arm tightened around his waist.

"Do that again," Odo growled into his ear, and Quark, shivering, complied.

They both moaned at the renewed contact, and Odo's hips jerked underneath his, sharply rocking Quark upwards in his lap. A soft, startled noise escaped Quark's throat at the stimulation. His fingers trembled as he clutched at Odo's shoulders.

"Take off the rest of your clothes," Odo rasped, lips brushing scandalously against Quark's lobes with every word. "Or I'll take them off for you."

Quark swallowed hard - the rasp in Odo's voice meant business, evoked torn clothing and ripped threads.

So he nodded, hands shaking as he reached up to pull his vest over his head. All the while, he was painfully aware of Odo watching him, likely reveling in his humiliation as he exposed more and more of his naked skin.

The vest hit the floor, then his shirt, then his undershirt, then -

It became a fight of who could get the others' pants undone first, with Odo playing dirty, remarkably dirty for a complete and utter virgin, kissing Quark haphazardly to distract him, biting kisses that threatened to break the skin but didn't, just barely.

Quark won, just barely, just managing to reach down and unzip Odo's uniform trousers enough to slip his hand inside -

But Odo had other plans, and he grabbed Quark's wrist, held it still, before Quark could gain any purchase.

"No," Odo rasped. "You first."

Quark blinked, confused. "What?"

He gasped as Odo took advantage of his temporary disorientation to grab his other wrist, bringing them together in a perverse parody of the typical Ferengi begging gesture. Odo held his trapped wrists in one hand and unzipped his trousers with the other, roughly shucking them off the curve of Quark's backside.

Chuckling, Odo leaned close to Quark's ear.

"If I let go," Odo breathed, deliberately exhaling against Quark's lobes in the most sinfully tantalizing way, "will you behave?"

Quark considered joking about not being able to make any promises, but strangely enough, he didn't feel like joking.

He nodded, meekly. "I'll behave."

Another startled gasp escaped him as Odo nuzzled his ear. "Good."

Odo released his wrists.

"Cooperate," Odo said. It wasn't a request.

Quark bit his lip as he rolled his hips upwards, docilely permitting Odo to force the rest of his clothes down past his thighs, until they were off his legs entirely, and he was poised just above Odo's cock.

Anticipation made him wet and ready. Like any good Ferengi businessman, Quark possessed the best of both worlds, as it were - all the fun without the risk of pregnancy - and it afforded him a biological business advantage that most non-Ferengi individuals never had.

Odo teased further wetness out of him with a curious finger, then two, murmuring a begrudging appreciation for the soft slickness yielding to his every inquisitive touch.

Quark's face burned as Odo leisurely began to finger-fuck him, curling his digits just enough to massage Quark's inner walls, until Quark was writhing against him on the verge of tears. He scrabbled at Odo's shoulders and clenched down tightly on Odo's invasive fingers with a helpless sort of whimper.

Odo went still.

"I didn't realize you could - down there - " Odo's mouth seemed to have gone dry, and he paused to gulp before speaking again. "Relax, Quark."

Quark took a deep breath, then exhaled. He slowly relaxed, and loosely draped his arms around Odo's neck for support.

Odo held his gaze in silence for a moment, eyes burning into Quark's line of sight.

He slipped his fingers out. Readjusted. Quark heard the sound of cloth being shoved down, the hideous coarseness of Odo's uniform sliding down his legs, but not completely...

Quark inhaled sharply as the tip of Odo's cock rested at his entrance. Pressing ever so slightly against him. Waiting.

"Relax," Odo repeated, gruffly, as if to mask any other possible emotion he might have been feeling, and Quark couldn't help but obey.

They both gasped as Odo entered him, pushing and pushing until Quark was thoroughly impaled, and all he could feel was Odo inside of him, all he could hear was Odo's stuttered breathing scorching his ears, and he shut his eyes so he wouldn't have to see Odo's penetrating gaze.

It was obscene, being naked in Odo's lap like this, stretched and filled to the brim, the rough fabric of Odo's uniform scratching at his delicate skin. Odo's hand rested firmly on the small of his back, fingers splayed, possessive and heavy, like he never intended to let go of Quark ever again.

Quark made a strained noise when Odo began to move in earnest, each thrust accompanied by a lewdly slick sound down below. He tightened his thighs around Odo's waist and the pressure on the small of his back increased, and soon they were both moaning throatily with each rock of the hips, Quark riding him desperately, like a Vulcan caught in the throes of pon farr -

 

* * *

 

"You're awfully quiet for once," Odo remarked.

Quark blinked. "Wuh?"

"Good game?"

"Game?" Quark repeated dumbly, then looked back down at the cards on the console. "Oh, yeah."

He heard the sounds of Odo slowly turning around to look at him, and he immediately crossed his legs and twisted his hips away from Odo's direction.

"You seem frustrated," Odo remarked with a smug delight. "Perhaps it's more complicated than you thought."

Quark scoffed. He darted a glance back at Odo, solely so Odo could see how utterly nonplussed he looked. "Don't be ridiculous. Like I said, it's a simple game."

"So you say." Odo nodded towards the cards with a smirk. "Maybe you've foiled yourself. Wouldn't be the first time, would it?"

Blushing, Quark twisted the rest of his body around, avoiding eye contact. He affected an above-it-all, light, airy tone. "I know exactly what I'm doing."

Odo chuckled. "Of course you do."

And as Odo spun around in his seat again to continue reading his book, Quark uncrossed and re-crossed his legs.

He sighed to himself.

Sometimes it didn't pay to have such a rich imagination.


	2. Chapter 2

Quark lay in his bunk, thinking.

Odo was fast asleep in the bunk above, but Quark was wide awake.

He still had a terrible time falling asleep in the runabout. All the ambient noises he could mostly ignore during the day were absurdly more noticeable at night. Electric crackles, pulses of energy, subaudible hums of generated power... Rom would've had a field day identifying exactly what each irritating little sound meant, but Quark just wished they would all stop.

Odo, however, didn't have any problems falling asleep. Of course he didn't. His silly ears were too small to hear even half the sounds that plagued Quark's waking hours, and he slept soundly once he did fall asleep. For all his complaints about humanoid this and solid body that, Odo seemed to enjoy sleeping quite a bit.

Quark stared at the bunk above him and wondered what Odo dreamed about, if Odo dreamed about anything at all. His comeuppance, perhaps. Maybe Odo was delighting himself with visions of Quark's hypothetical punishment at that very moment.

Not _physically_ delighting himself, of course. Quark would have known. He would have heard everything - the sound of skin on skin, the faint friction of a grasping hand, stroking up and down. Maybe even a soft exhale at the end.

Quark snorted quietly in amusement.

Suddenly Odo rolled over in the bunk above, and Quark held his breath, listening.

But all he could hear was the soft sounds of Odo's steady breathing as he slept, and he relaxed.

He wondered what else Odo might be able to sleep through...

 

* * *

 

The mattress squeaked as Odo climbed into Quark's bunk.

Quark immediately propped himself up, leaning back on his palms to get a better look at his new bunkmate.

"Odo?"

His eyes widened as Odo knelt between his parted legs and braced his hands on Quark's knees.

"Did you really think you could keep any secrets from me?"

Quark swallowed hard. "What are you talking about?"

"I _know_ what you were doing." Odo backed Quark into the far end of the bunk, spreading Quark's legs wider in the process. "Making those _wanton_ little noises of yours."

"I thought you were asleep," Quark blurted out, before realizing it wasn't much of a denial.

A low chuckle. Odo leaned closer and slid his hands up around the outside of Quark's thighs, until he had seized Quark's waist in a possessive grip. His cheek brushed against Quark's as Odo ducked around to murmur directly into Quark's ear.

"Couldn't help yourself, could you?"

Quark shivered.

"Admit it, Quark." The vibrations of Odo's bone-deep rumble made Quark shiver even harder. "I caught you."

The weight of Odo's body pressed him back against the mattress with a delicious friction. Quark heard every little sound - the brush of fabric against fabric, and body against fabric, and the both of their bodies sinking into the mattress. He couldn't push Odo away even if he wanted to - but he didn't want to. He wanted more. The compact, hardened muscles of Odo's torso rubbed against Quark's sensitive inner thighs, and he reflexively tightened his legs around Odo, mouth going dry from arousal.

"So you caught me," Quark replied softly. He turned his head towards Odo's face and spoke in a sultry pout. "Now what are you going to do with me?"

Odo grunted in amusement. The corner of his mouth quirked upwards into a crooked smile, barely visible in the dark. He moved sinuously against Quark, deliberately rubbing against his parted legs in a way that provoked an embarrassingly pitiful whine out of him.

"I'm tempted to torture you," Odo murmured, bearing down upon Quark with his entire body. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Before Quark could respond, Odo slid his hands up Quark's sides, then closed the distance and captured Quark's mouth in a hard, bruising kiss.

With a muffled moan, Quark let Odo lean him back against the bunk as he submitted to the kiss. His wrists fell to either side of his head as Odo kissed him senseless, and his lips tingled with the low vibrations that Odo kept making from deep within his chest, which was _deeply_ unfair and terribly hot.

Quark was so preoccupied with the vibrations and the kissing that he didn't even remember to protest when Odo reached up to undo the clasp on his pajama collar. His increasingly exposed skin prickled with the awareness of violating numerous Ferengi taboos, but he kept his eyes shut as Odo roughly slid his clothing off his shoulders, submissively lifting his hips so that Odo could strip him completely. His breath hitched when he heard his clothing drop onto the floor, and the sound of Odo's clothes following suit made Quark arch against Odo's stomach. He moaned as his own erection, slick with precome, ground against Odo's.

Every nerve felt alight with a scandalous thrill. Quark had a hard body in between his thighs and an insistent tongue filling his mouth and he reached up to bury a hand in Odo's hair, pull him even closer. He squirmed underneath Odo, spread out and needy, absolutely desperate for Odo to fuck him immediately.

"Odo, please -"

"Not yet," Odo rasped, smirking against Quark's lips. Some of his hair fell forward, tickling Quark's lobes with a featherlight touch, and Quark shuddered.

" _Please_ ," Quark begged, his hands turning plaintive as he cradled Odo's face against his. "Odo, I'm ready, I _want_ you to pound me into the mattress -"

"Now, now, Quark." Odo gripped Quark's wrists to hold them still, and Quark stifled a whimper at the feel of Odo's fingers encircling him like cuffs. "Don't be hasty."

He was positively aching by now, and he thrust his hips forward futilely, dripping and wet and frustrated, but all Odo did was chuckle and kiss him again, humming those infernal vibrations down Quark's throat.

"I asked nicely," Quark whined, when he next had a chance to breathe. " _Begged_ , even! What more do you want from me?"

Odo eyed him with a devilish gleam in his eyes. He rubbed Quark's wrists with a casual possessiveness, but Quark could hear the sharper intake of breath - something about his despair was turning Odo on, and that, in turn, made it harder for Quark to concentrate on anything other than his overwhelming need to be fucked.

"Nothing," Odo replied.

" _Nothing_?"

Odo broke out into a slow grin.

Suddenly he slammed Quark's wrists back down onto the bed, pinning them down on either side of Quark's head. The tip of his cock rested at Quark's entrance, hovering right on the edge of penetration.

Odo leaned around to whisper, "I just wanted to see you squirm."

And he twisted his hips forward, slipping inside Quark easily.

Quark cried out in a pathetically high pitch at suddenness of being filled. He clenched down tightly around Odo's girth and Odo slammed into him with a low, throaty moan, gripping his wrists even harder. Quark's inner muscles quivered as he greedily accepted Odo into himself, welcoming the hard length stretching him open with every move. Panting, Quark rolled his hips back against Odo's slow thrusts until they were both groaning at the drag of Odo's cock sliding in and out of him. The sound of it, the slick noise they made where their bodies met, made Quark's ears burn. 

"Do you like that, Quark?" Odo pulled back, then thrust forward with enough force to shake the entire bunk.

"Yes, _yes_ ," Quark whimpered, wriggling in Odo's grip as Odo fucked him into the mattress. "Odo, don't stop -"

His entire body felt sensitive and tender as he lay at Odo's mercy, and his cries reached a new pitch as Odo shifted the speed of his thrusts, faster and harder until Quark was reduced to a sobbing mess underneath him, and all he could hear was the sound of the bunk yielding each time Odo slammed into his quivering body -

 

* * *

 

Quark sighed his release.

He thought he had done an admirable job of staying quiet - he barely made a sound as he finished oo-moxing himself to completion, a skill he had learned to practice back in his freighter ship days.

He slowly removed the blanket from his mouth and waited, listening for any hint of Odo stirring awake.

Nothing.

Just Odo's boring steady breathing, in and out, from the bunk above him.

Quark grinned an exhausted grin to himself, then rolled out of bed to walk to the sonic shower.

He figured he likely wouldn't have any problems falling asleep after that.


	3. Chapter 3

Quark screeched as soon as the bathroom door opened.

"It's just me, Quark." Odo rolled his eyes. "Besides, you're not even undressed."

Quark almost dropped the cream of hypicat he had been applying to his skin. "That's not _funny_ , Odo!"

"Hmph." Odo folded his arms and leaned against the doorway, immediately drawing Quark's attention to his bare arms in his sleeveless workout top. "I wasn't trying to be."

Quark resolutely tore his eyes away to look back at the mirror. "Can't you wait a few more minutes? I'm almost done."

"That's what you said twenty-five minutes ago."

"Has it really been twenty-five minutes?" Quark glanced back down at the various jars and bottles on the sink. He wasn't even indulging in his full skincare regimen.

"Twenty-six, at this point." Odo sighed. "I need to shower, Quark. My scalp itches."

"I told you you've been using too much pomade," Quark replied airily. "That low-grade Bajoran stuff doesn't react well to sweat."

"Hence the pressing need to wash it out."

"So you can put on even more of it after your hair gets clean again? I don't know why you bother using it when I'm the only person seeing your hair for the next few days."

Odo grunted. "And I don't know why you bother running through your fourteen-step skincare regimen when I'm the only person seeing your face for the next few days."

"For your information," Quark corrected snottily, "I've reduced it to _ten_ steps, and I'm almost done."

Odo stopped leaning against the doorway and straightened his posture. "So all you're doing right now is applying unnecessary chemicals to your face?"

"They're _all_ necessary," Quark protested, "but of course you wouldn't understand, with your no-step regimen of nothing whatsoever."

"Then you're not using the shower," Odo noted, and he immediately swept past Quark towards the sonic shower portion of the bathroom.

"Odo," Quark yelped, scandalized, "I'm still _here_!"

"I _know_ , Quark." Odo's back was to Quark, and his voice was muffled by his top, which he was in the middle of removing. "There's an opaque partition, remember? Partitions resemble walls? We'll essentially be in two separate rooms."

"But -" Quark blinked as Odo's top fell to the floor. "You're -"

"Computer," Odo made sure to say loudly, "raise shower partition, full opacity."

A shimmering field arose between them, suddenly blocking Odo from view.

"Happy now, Quark?"

Quark realized his mouth was still open. He couldn't seem to formulate any coherent words, so he closed it. His face grew warm.

Odo didn't bother waiting for a reply. The calm pitch of the sonic shower's pulses soon filled Quark's ears, and Quark realized that Odo had removed the rest of his clothes.

Blushing, Quark turned around to resume the rest of his regimen.

 

* * *

 

He jumped as Odo suddenly emerged behind him, hair mussed from the shower.

In the mirror, Quark could see Odo roll his eyes even more exaggeratedly than usual. He could also see that Odo only wore a towel slung around his waist.

"Again, Quark, it's just me." Odo glanced down at the counter. "Where's my pomade?"

Quark stared at the mirror dumbly. "Huh?"

"My pomade. I just remembered I left it by the sink." Odo lightly braced his hands on Quark's shoulders to lean around him for a closer look. "Oh, there it is."

Quark froze. Odo's cheek was barely a hair's breadth away from his ear, and if he moved, their faces would brush against each other.

Unconcerned with Quark's sudden unnatural stiffness, Odo reached around him to pluck a plain black jar out from the stack of brightly colored containers arranged all over the sink.

Odo's bare chest pressed against his back, and Quark stifled a whimpery noise.

"Quark?"

"Uh-huh?"

He couldn't stifle the gasp that escaped him when Odo ducked down to sniff his neck. He also couldn't stifle the soft moan he made when Odo began to slowly nuzzle his jaw.

"You smell nice," Odo murmured. His breath tickled Quark's skin with warmth.

Quark gulped. "Ah-huh?"

Odo set the pomade back down on the sink, away from Quark's containers, then loosely looped his arms around Quark's front.

"Mm-hmm." Odo took another inhale, lips ghosting over the tender skin directly below Quark's earlobe. "Like tea leaves."

"It's - _ah!_ " A full-body shudder rocked through Quark as Odo mouthed his ear. He gripped the sink with both hands and struggled to keep his voice level. "A new - _oh..._ serum."

Odo chuckled. He leaned even closer, pressing himself along the length of Quark's trembling back. "You're shaking. Cold?"

Quark glanced back over his shoulder. "I could ask you the same thing."

Another low chuckle sent goosebumps along Quark's skin. "I'm feeling rather warm, in fact."

The sound of Odo's towel dropping to the floor made Quark's eyes widen. His lips parted, and he was about to formulate a reply when Odo pressed against him just a bit more. 

Odo's eyes seemed to sparkle as he held Quark's gaze. His hardness rested neatly against Quark's cleft, the shape of it easily felt through Quark's clothes. 

"I thought about you in the shower," Odo added casually, as if he was doing nothing remotely akin to sliding his hands down Quark's front. 

Quark licked his lips. "You did?"

Odo nodded, a small smile on his face. "And I thought about how much I wanted you to join me."

Quark's pulse throbbed in his lobes, and his mind felt caught in a fog as Odo's fingers swiftly hooked into his waistband and tugged downwards.

He began to reach over to help, but Odo shook his head.

"Don't bother," Odo breathed into his ear, and Quark swallowed hard. "You'll want to hold on."

Quark braced himself on the sink, gripping it tightly as he felt Odo's fingers run through his natural slickness down below. He widened his stance, breathing hard at the sensation of Odo's fingertips almost breaching him but not quite. He resisted the urge to reach back and grab Odo's hand, so he gripped the sink even more tightly and tipped his head back onto Odo's shoulder with a needy whine.

"Just a few more minutes," Odo teased into his ear, and Quark groaned.

"I _hate_ you," Quark replied, pouting in what he hoped was a sufficiently sultry and alluring manner.

He shivered as Odo held him even closer. "Do you really?"

"I do," Quark insisted, even though Odo's self-satisfied smirk clearly indicated that he already knew the answer.

Odo nuzzled Quark's neck again for good measure, then finally relented and slid two fingers inside of him.

Gasping, Quark clenched wetly around the invasive digits, provoking a low grunt from behind.

"Tight," Odo muttered, twisting his fingers inside Quark, even as Quark's natural emissions eased the way. He leisurely sawed his fingers, past the second knuckle, then back out again. "I'll have to go slow..."

"Don't," Quark whimpered, voice breaking with desperation. "Really, Odo, you don't have to -"

Odo made a come hither motion with his fingers and Quark shut himself up with a shaky gasp. His blood pounded in his ears to the point where he could barely register Odo removing his fingers, too distracted by the intimate sensation of Odo's chest pressed against his back, and Odo's breath hot on his neck.

A slow push and several muttered curses later, Odo was almost completely buried inside of him, hands at his waist holding him steady, thumbs slowly massaging the dimples of Quark's lower back. 

Quark stood on his tiptoes, legs quaking from the strain. Slowly, he let himself sink back down onto Odo's cock, until he was fully impaled. He bit his lip to refrain from crying out, and Odo nuzzled his ear, murmuring dirty praises at how good Quark felt, how pleasurable and warm. He allowed Quark a brief moment to get used to the feel of him before moving so hard that the bottles and jars on the sink rattled noisily with each thrust -

 

* * *

 

"You're still not done?"

Quark jumped as Odo approached him from behind. The jar he had been holding fell to the floor with a loud clatter.

Grunting in mild exasperation, Odo leaned down and picked it up. He examined the label as he stood back up, one hand holding the jar, the other holding up the towel at his waist.

Quark couldn't help blushing as he glanced back up at Odo, who was studying the jar with a slight frown of concentration.

"'Red leaf tea serum...?'" Odo read with a questioning tone.

"It's for my face," Quark said quickly, holding out his hand.

"So I gathered." Odo tilted the open jar towards his nose, then took a sniff. "Hm."

Quark blinked. Maybe Odo was trying to sniff out contraband ingredients. "Well?"

Odo handed the jar back to him. "Surprisingly pleasant. I don't remember you using this back on the station."

Despite the matter of fact tone, the result was still the same as if Odo had hit on Quark with a perverse line - it only intensified the heat rising in Quark's cheeks.

"It's new," Quark said faintly. He quickly busied himself with massaging more of the serum into his skin before Odo could scrutinize his blushing face any longer. "Besides, the station's full of people and scents - you wouldn't have noticed before, anyway."

"Hm." Odo looked thoughtful. "I'm not so sure about that."

"You wouldn't have," Quark insisted. He finished applying the serum until it was completely matte, leaving his skin soft and smooth to the touch - as smooth as Ferengi skin could get, anyway. "Go put some clothes on. Aren't you cold?"

"Not particularly," Odo replied, still looking thoughtful as he studied Quark's reflection in the mirror. "But if you're still not done with your laborious skincare regimen -"

"I'm _on_ the last step, Odo -"

"- then I might as well go put on my uniform."

And Odo walked out of the bathroom, sighing elaborately.

Quark watched him leave, then glanced back down at himself.

No visible erection.

He exhaled in relief.

That was too close for comfort. He would have to be more careful about his Odo daydreams. The shuttle still had a long way to go.


	4. Chapter 4

As the days went by, Quark found himself more easily irritable.

He was often irritated in general, but the further the trip to Inferna Prime progressed, the more irritated he got.

For one thing, he could no longer ignore the noises surrounding him during the day. The runabout was alive with them. Even Odo's idiotic workout routine seemed louder than usual - each grunt more resonant, each footfall more sonorous.

He almost missed the relative quiet of the station's holding cells. Sometimes all the other cells were empty and the only noises he could hear were the faint hum of the confining force fields. Quark always mysteriously slept better on those nights, which never made sense to him, because he had always been aware of Odo's presence, watching him like a Tarkalean hawk...

Much like how Odo was watching him now, from the opposite seat in the runabout's cockpit, even though all Quark was doing was eating.

"What?" Quark asked.

"I don't know _how_ you can put those things in your mouth."

Quark glanced back down at the bowl of juicy plump sea grubs he was cradling in his hand. The grubs were glistening, pale pink, and raw. They were much larger than the tube grubs he normally enjoyed, but he had been bored and he couldn't think of anything else to program into the replicator. The sea grubs had a naturally mild salty tinge to the meat that most non-Ferengi couldn't appreciate, but Quark was used to it.

"It's not _my_ fault you think plain water is too flavorful sometimes," Quark replied, nonplussed. He plucked a particularly plump grub out of the bowl and tilted his head back to swallow it whole, in the time-honored tradition of millennia of sea grub connoisseurs. The grub slid past his tongue with a delicious slipperiness, traveling straight to his stomach with an easy glide. "Mmm! Delicious."

Odo wrinkled his nose. "No need to exaggerate, Quark."

"I'm not exaggerating." Quark licked his lips to catch the last remnants of the grub juice, then watched Odo's gaze drift to his mouth. He grinned. "They taste _divine_."

"Really."

"Really!" Quark held the bowl out to him, and Odo instinctively leaned away, arms still folded. "Want one?"

"No."

"You suuuure?" Quark waggled the bowl in his direction, enjoying the clear disgust on Odo's face. It was a juvenile pleasure, but still a form of pleasure nonetheless. "I spent all morning getting the replicator recipe just right."

A light scoff. "Difficult recipe, was it?"

"It _was_ , actually. I haven't tried it on the station yet because the Cardassian replicators aren't sophisticated enough to capture the full range of subtleties."

Odo's responding grunt contained a hint of amusement. "Sometimes I shudder to think what you could accomplish if you applied your programming skills to more ambitious purposes."

Quark blinked.

If he didn't know any better, he could swear Odo _almost_ sounded like he was giving Quark a compliment.

Couched in multiple layers of derision, sarcasm, and misdirection, but still.

He withdrew the bowl, and Odo stopped leaning away from him.

"Suit yourself," Quark said. He tilted his head back to swallow another grub, relishing the thick meaty girth of it as it went down his throat.

"Ugh."

Quark rolled his eyes. "If I disgust you so much, why are you still watching me eat? It's not like when you were surveilling my patrons before, Odo. You can eat your own food now."

"Well I certainly can't eat _my_ food while you're eating yours." Odo harrumphed. "Besides, watching you devour those things has a grotesque fascination of its own. Like gawking at a crime scene."

Quark set the grub he was about to eat back down into the bowl.

"A crime scene," he repeated dryly.

"I can't tear my eyes away," Odo replied, voice dripping in sarcasm.

"You know what, Odo?" Quark grinned. "You're just jealous your people didn't give you a more advanced tongue."

An incredulous grunt. "Let me guess - a tongue like a Ferengi's, you mean?"

"Well, now that you bring it up, we _do_ have _very_ advanced tongues," Quark said, affecting pleased surprise. He held up another juicy grub. "For example, only a Ferengi tongue could pick up the specific piquancy of this beautiful morsel right here."

And he made sure to slowly run his tongue all over the circumference of the grub, swirling it as he took it into his mouth.

The sight seemed to disturb Odo. He blinked rapidly and inhaled sharply as he stared at Quark sucking at the grub's glistening skin.

Delighted with this new way to annoy Odo, Quark made a point of drawing it out, lasciviously pushing the thick grub past his lips so he could truly relish all the flavor it had to offer. He closed his eyes as he gulped the grub down...

 

* * *

 

Quark's eyes flew open at the sound of Odo approaching him.

He barely had time to swallow the rest of the grub down before Odo yanked the bowl out of his hands and set it on the console.

Quark gulped, looking up at him. "Odo?"

His eyelids lowered as Odo braced a hand on the back of the runabout seat and leaned down to speak with him.

"I've thought of a better use for your advanced tongue," Odo replied huskily. "But I'm not sure if your mouth could handle it."

Color rushed to Quark's face, and he blinked rapidly. His eyes darted down to steal a glance at the impressive bulge straining at the lower half of Odo's uniform, then back up. He wished he had an ornamental fan to whip out and use on himself, to cool his warming cheeks.

"Something larger than a sea grub, then?" Quark asked.

Odo smirked. "Much larger."

Well, he always did like a challenge.

Quark raised a browridge. "You might be surprised at how much I can handle."

"Would I, now?"

"In fact," Quark added casually, lowering his voice to a sultry proposal, "you might want to sit back down."

"I'll be that surprised?" Odo asked, equally casually, his voice equally lowered. He stood back up, taking care to brush his fingers against Quark's ear as he did so. "Well, if you insist."

And Odo sat back down on the seat opposite Quark, knees set apart more widely than usual, facing him with a smirk still on his lips. Waiting for Quark to come to him.

Quark hastily peeled off his jacket, letting it fall back onto the seat as he got up. He sauntered over to Odo, maintaining a silent eye contact as he approached.

Soon enough, Odo's pants were undone and Quark was on his knees.

He thought Odo would have shoved himself in his mouth already, but Odo seemed content to let Quark take his time. He leaned back in the runabout seat and leisurely stroked the outside of Quark's ears with a teasing pressure - too light for oo-mox, but enough to stoke Quark's appetite for more. And he did want more...

Hands braced on Odo's thighs, Quark let his eyes fall shut as he leaned forward, glad that the Founders didn't skimp on the finer details of Odo's solid body.

He heard a low, drawn-out moan as he took Odo's cock into his mouth. The vibrations traveled through Odo directly into Quark, and Quark paused to linger in the moment, breathing deeply through his nose, fingers digging into Odo's thighs. He became very aware of tasting Odo, of the precome coating his tongue.

The hands at his ears went still, frozen mid-caress. Like it was too much already, even though Quark had barely even started. As much as Quark wanted to suck Odo dry, he resisted the urge to rush him, feeling strangely protective of the sensitive Changeling for some reason.

He waited for a sign, then got it - Odo's hand traveling to the back of his neck, not pushing down immediately, but resting, tense, anticipatory.

"Quark," Odo groaned, stroking the back of his neck in a firm caress, and Quark began lavishing him with attention.

He started with the tip, swirling his tongue around it in a languorous lick, before bobbing his head up and down with an expert rhythm. Odo groaned again, loud and long. His hips stuttered, like he was fighting the urge to thrust down Quark's hot throat immediately. Quark wanted to tell him he could do it, that Quark would take whatever Odo wanted to give him, but then Odo's groans took on a new, desperate note, and Quark concentrated on eliciting even more of those luscious sounds.

Arousal pooled within him as Quark stretched his mouth to accommodate Odo's length. He began varying his technique and ran his tongue along the vein as he let the throbbing member slickly slide out past his lips, then sucked it back in again. His eagerness to please soon dissolved Odo's careful restraint, earning him rasped words of encouragement and a harder grip at the back of his neck, sending a rush of blood in his ears so thunderous that he could barely hear Odo murmur about shutting him up like this more often. A series of muffled whimpers escaped Quark as Odo abandoned all restraint and began fucking his mouth in earnest...

 

* * *

 

Quark finished swallowing with a soft moan of pleasure.

The abrupt sound of Odo standing up made Quark open his eyes again.

"What's wrong?" Quark asked innocently, batting his eyes.

"Nothing," Odo called out, already departing the cockpit.

Quark watched him go, then shrugged and resumed eating his sea grubs.

Halfway through, he realized he was smiling.

Huh.

He must have been better at programming the recipe than he thought.


	5. Chapter 5

One of Quark's favorite hobbies was breaking into Odo's security files. It kept him sharp, and often alerted him to new opportunities (or helped him figure out who to avoid - no point in doing business with someone already locked up, for example).

It didn't take Quark long to figure out how access the indictment from the Federation grand jury. Once read the file, he realized the indictment didn't contain charges against him at all - he was merely being requested as a witness. Odo must have jumped on the opportunity to assume the worst about him.

Typical narrow-minded Changeling.

Quark was almost disappointed. Usually Odo was more meticulous than that. But maybe Odo had something else up his boring beige sleeve. He'd have to stay alert.

Unfortunately for Quark, other things kept occupying his mind.

Nowhere in the runabout was safe from Quark's imagination. Absolutely nowhere. He couldn't even look at a wall without thinking about Odo shoving him up against it, Odo's lips whispering at his neck, traveling up towards his ears...

It didn't help that Odo kept being obnoxiously present wherever Quark was in the runabout. The less Quark wanted to see him, the more Odo seemed intent on being around him, even if only in silence. Almost like he was trying to spend more time with Quark.

"Could you stop following me around?" Quark snapped one day, after Odo sat down in the cockpit seat opposite his.

Odo glanced up from the padd he was reading. "It's a small runabout, Quark. I'm _hardly_ following you around."

"You are!" Quark folded his arms, pouting. "When I go to the back, so do you. When I come out here to get away from you, you follow me."

Odo rolled his eyes. "Mere coincidence, Quark."

"Yeah?" Quark suddenly stood up. "Okay, prove it."

Exasperated, Odo set down his padd. " _How_?"

"I'm going to walk back to the sleeping area to take a nap." Quark folded his arms again. "Don't follow me."

"Fine." Odo folded his arms as well. "I won't. But how long do you expect me to 'not follow you' into one of the two main sections of the runabout?"

"I don't know!" Quark scowled. He continued scowling as he pondered the question for a moment. "Two hours."

"You're going to nap for two hours."

" _Yes_ ," Quark said testily. "I might as well, since you keep interrupting my sleep with all your primitive exercise noises."

" _What_ noises?"

"All that _grunting_ and _panting_ and heavy _breathing_."

"I can't help _breathing_ , Quark."

"Well." Quark wriggled his folded arms, frustrated. "Breathe quieter, then."

Odo snorted. It almost sounded like laugh. "I've been trying to accommodate your _delicate hearing_ ever since you first complained, but there's only so much I can reasonably do."

"Whatever." Quark spun around on his heel, partially because he actually did need to turn away, and partially so his coattails could swish impressively behind him. "I'm going. Enjoy your second-rate smut."

"It's _literature_ , Quark," Odo called after him, but Quark was already stomping his way back to the bunks.

 

* * *

 

Quark flopped into the lower bunk with a sigh.

He flung his arms above his head, wrists crossing in the perfect position to be bound and tied, and slowly stretched himself out, sinuously rolling his back against the mattress.

It would have been the perfect time for Odo to suddenly appear, eyes raking over Quark's reclining form and his upturned wrists, the scandalous centimeters of exposed skin, ready for the taking...

Eyes half-lidded, Quark glanced back out at the entranceway to the sleeping area, tilting his head to listen for anything out of the ordinary.

He could hear the usual runabout noises, the everyday buzzes and hums that vexed him to no end, but he couldn't hear any sign of Odo walking over.

Quark pouted to himself.

He hadn't _really_ expected Odo to follow him - especially after telling Odo not to follow him - but he still felt a little disappointed that Odo hadn't pursued him.

He had even worn more red than usual, not that Odo seemed to notice. _Quark_ , of course, had noticed that Odo seemed to have a preference for the color red (or, at the very least, a certain red-haired Major with a penchant for wearing red uniforms). Quark always noticed that sort of thing.

But Odo never seemed to notice anything about his excellent taste in clothing, no matter how flattering the cut. Not that Quark expected a man who wore the same damn thing every day to have even the slightest degree of fashion sense, but still. He could probably waltz out into the runabout in nothing more than a slinky slip of a dabo girl costume and Odo wouldn't notice. Or, if Odo _did_ notice, it would only be to tell Quark that he shouldn't be wasting replicator resources on such impractical clothing.

Quark exhaled loudly and indignantly through his nose.

Maybe he'd meet someone on Inferna Prime who _would_ notice his excellent taste in clothes, someone who would appreciate all that Quark's limber body had to offer. A tall someone, perhaps, with a deep voice and equally deep thrust.

Not that Quark was picky. Any someone would do. He'd be happy with nothing more than a casual one-night stand in a sleazy rented room, rough hands tugging his pants down past his hips, exposing his touch-starved skin to greedy eyes.

He parted his legs as he stretched himself against the mattress again, arching his back slightly.

Yes, that was what he should look for, someone who didn't have their mind filled with tepid Bajoran fantasies, someone who was willing to flip Quark over and fuck him hard from behind, shoving his cheek into the pillow with each thrust.

Quark tilted his head and glanced back at the empty doorway.

He still couldn't hear any sign of Odo getting up and approaching.

Maybe Odo was intent on leaving him alone after all.

Shutting his eyes, Quark let his hands drift to his lobes...

 

* * *

 

They met at one of Inferna Prime's most popular dive bars, full of convenient dark places for patrons to strike up clandestine conversations. Colored lights cast the occasional circles of saturated glow, providing just enough visibility to discern basic outlines and shapes, the curve of a muscled shoulder, the swell of a thick neck.

The man sitting opposite Quark had sent a drink his way, initially staying at the other end of the bar until Quark had beckoned him over with a subtle little nod and a far less subtle lick of the lips. Quark hadn't caught his name yet, but he could tell the man was filthy rich from the looks of his lavish robes alone. Glimpses of fur and silk and delicately woven patterns shimmered in the bar's ambient light, evidencing work that could only have been done by a handsomely-paid tailor.

Sure, the face wasn't much to look at, even in the forgiving lights of the bar. But Quark was never particularly picky about faces, and the latinum more than made up for the face. Besides, the man was thrillingly assertive, slipping into Quark's personal space so naturally that Quark couldn't remember when the hand on his thigh had gotten there, gently squeezing him like a freshly-won prize. Quark loved feeling prized.

Soon enough, they were making out in a more secluded booth. The man's arm wrapped around his shoulders, holding Quark in place, while his other hand roved up and down Quark's back, paying close attention to the curve of his spine and the swell of his ass.

Quark was grateful that no one knew him on Inferna Prime - he'd hate for anyone he knew to watch him get felt up in public, but strangers were fine. Exciting, even. The knowledge that so many anonymous eyes might be watching him sent an exhibitionist shiver up Quark's spine, and he wriggled even more passionately on the man's lap.

He gasped when the man nuzzled his ear.

"Maybe we should relocate," the man whispered lowly.

"You sure?" Quark asked, rolling his hips down for good measure. "I don't think this place has private rooms."

"Then we'll go back to mine," the man murmured, reaching a hand up to caress the back of Quark's neck, tantalizingly close to his vulnerable lobes. "You'd look good on my bed, spread out for my pleasure."

"For your pleasure?" Quark teased, taking care to grind against the man's hard crotch. "Doesn't sound like a fair bargain."

A low chuckle. "I don't bargain with conquests. But I might consider indulging you. It's been a while since I've felt... charitable."

Quark went still. He pulled away from the man's deliciously devious mouth and watched him blink his eyes open in surprise.

"What's wrong?" the man asked.

Quark wrinkled his nose. "You said 'charitable.'"

The man tilted his head. "What's wrong with that?"

Quark took a deep breath, then exhaled. He weighed the size of the bulge grinding against his sensitive bottom, and the tantalizing rasp of the man's voice, and the sumptuousness of the silken threads rubbing against his skin. This wasn't the kind of person who would take note of his preferences for later, or care about offending Quark's Ferengi sensibilities, because this man wouldn't ever see Quark again, and that was what Quark wanted, wasn't it? A quick fuck with no consequences?

He smiled.

"Nothing," Quark said. "My universal translator must have made it sound worse than it was. Sorry."

The man smirked. "That's quite all right. We won't be talking much at my place." He leaned in close to murmur into Quark's ear again. "You _will_ be coming to my place, won't you?"

Quark shivered at the overstimulation. He let out a shaky gasp.

The man held him tighter. "Well?"

Eyes fluttering shot, he nodded...

 

* * *

 

The sound of approaching footsteps made Quark's eyes snap open.

He hastily removed his hands from his lobes, then curled onto his side, facing the bunk wall. His ears tingled and his body tensed, aching for release.

A small part of him wondered why it took so long - normally he would've finished himself off with an expert speed. He was usually so good at giving himself a mental buzz, and Quark prided himself on his imagination.

But there was no time to contemplate his frustration further, because soon enough, Odo's booted feet were striding through the sleeping area.

"Odo," Quark whined, twisting around as if he had just been rudely awakened. "I was _trying_ to sleep!"

Odo sniffed. "I can't help it if I have to cross through the sleeping area to get to the replicator, Quark."

"Well, fine." Quark flounced back onto his side, turning his back to Odo. "Just don't eat your boring food here."

He could hear Odo fold his arms. "Now my _eating_ offends you?"

" _And_ your unimaginative food choices," Quark grumbled.

"Noted," Odo replied dryly. "And if I was eating, say, a bowl of sea grubs instead, I presume that would be less offensive?"

Quark swallowed hard. "Uh huh?"

Odo snorted. "But I suspect you'd probably find fault with my eating method as well, wouldn't you?"

Quark blinked rapidly. "Well, uh. I. What?"

A derisive snort. "Perhaps you do need that nap after all. Fine, Quark. I won't bother you for the next hour and a half. In the meantime, I'll try to eat the quietest food I can find." Odo actually sounded amused by the thought. "Hm. That might be interesting, actually."

Quark managed an agreeable sort of whimper as Odo walked away.

 

* * *

 

The mattress creaked as Odo kissed his way down Quark's chest, then his stomach, then -

"Odo," Quark said faintly, lifting his head up to take a look. "What are -"

He gasped as Odo licked him open, tongue slipping past the slickness at his entrance.

Quark let his head flop back onto the pillow and clamped a hand over his mouth, muffling the shrieks that threatened to escape his throat. Tears sprang to his eyes as Odo held him down by the hips, fingers digging into his thighs, not quite hard enough to bruise - just enough for Quark to feel pinned down to the bed.

Odo swirled his tongue and Quark _wailed_ into his palm, toes curling at the shock of pleasure shooting through his nerves. He convulsed and trembled around Odo's insistent tongue, which kept _moving_ in him and forcing out sounds that he had never made before, desperate broken noises that scorched his ears.

He didn't know what to do with his other hand, the one that wasn't stifling his helpless moans of pleasure, so he pawed at the sheets underneath him, almost raking holes through the fabric as Odo's tongue began thrusting in and out of him, provoking higher and higher pitched whimpers.

Quark's blood pounded in his ears, and he lifted his hand from the sheets to reach down.

He settled his hand on Odo's hair, gently running his fingers through it in a shaky caress.

The touch seemed to take Odo aback - he could feel Odo's grip on his thighs tighten, then relax.

Then Odo made a deep and low rumble that sent vibrations rocketing through Quark's overstimulated skin, and Quark came with a sharp cry, his entire body snapping taut like a plucked string -

 

* * *

 

Quark bit his lip almost hard enough to bleed as he came.

His eyes flew open and his heart pounded with the exertion of the adrenaline rush coursing through his veins. His panting sounded hideously loud and noisy, almost blocking out every other sound in the runabout.

Quark stared at the bunk wall as he listened for the sounds of anything else besides his heavy breathing.

He heard the runabout's electric sizzles, the habitual mechanical hums that bothered him to no end.

He strained to listen for any hint of Odo's whereabouts, but couldn't hear a thing.

Perhaps Odo had found the quietest food after all, and was eating it back by the replicator, leaving Quark in peace.

Well, good. Quark could feel free to gasp for air.

He lay heavily on his side, chest heaving with the need to breathe deep breaths and calm his racing heart.

He hadn't come that hard - by himself, at least - in a while.

In a long while.

He swallowed hard at the images lingering in his mind, of being at Odo's mercy, even when their roles were reversed, but not really...

Quark smiled dopily to himself.

He usually didn't come so hard he could barely think afterwards. Maybe it was because it was the first time he thought of that particular fantasy. Yes, the novelty of it had to have been a factor. But still, he'd have to be careful in the future.

He bit his lip again, then gingerly rolled himself out of the bunk.

Odo was still nowhere to be seen. Or heard.

Perfect.

Quark walked towards the shower with a bounce in his step.

The journey was almost over. Soon enough, he'd be on Inferna Prime, and soon enough, he wouldn't have to be in Odo's presence for a long, long while.


	6. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> QUARK: You remember back there when I told you I hated you, and you told me you hated me?
> 
> ODO: Vividly.
> 
> QUARK: I just wanted you to know I meant every word of it.
> 
> ODO: So did I.
> 
> *
> 
> Updated to flesh out some characterization (and smut) - it just figures I'd end up injecting some plot into the last part of a PWP!
> 
> *
> 
> And now, for the +1...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  ( _Insert the entirety of The Ascent here._ )  
> 

Quark woke up shivering.

It took him a moment to remember he wasn't on the planet anymore. After so many seemingly endless nights of freezing his lobes off in nature - horrid nature - he and Odo were finally safe, rescued, and recovering in the Defiant's sickbay.

The sickbay was dark, minus some faint ambient light from the nearby medical equipment. Quark couldn't hear anyone walking around, so he figured everyone must be fast asleep.

He rolled over onto his side to look at the next biobed, where Odo was also fast asleep.

Quark waited to see, or hear, if Odo might wake up anytime soon, but all Odo did was sleep.

He wondered what Odo was dreaming about. Perhaps a pair of heaving Bajoran bosoms glistening in the moonlight. Not that Quark cared, of course.

In any case, it couldn't hurt to wake him up for a very important request.

"Hey," Quark said, not too quietly. "Odo?"

He heard a sleepy, begrudging sigh as Odo slowly turned to face him.

"What now, Quark?"

"I'm cold." He crossed his arms to hug himself, which wasn't entirely for show. "Can you get me another blanket? Maybe replicate one?"

Odo blinked at him slowly. "Now?"

"Yes, now." Quark tried to look extra pathetic, which wasn't difficult, but also persuasive, which was considerably more difficult. So he settled for sounding as wheedling as possible. " _Please,_ Odo?"

Odo didn't budge. "I'm not allowed to leave the sickbay either, Quark."

"But you _can_ , right?"

"I _am_ physically capable of leaving," Odo noted dryly, "but I won't."

"Why not?" Quark whined.

"Bashir said we require a set amount of bedrest to recover efficiently." Odo frowned. "Solid bodies are fragile, as you very well know."

"You're more recovered than I am," Quark pointed out. Bashir had healed Odo's broken leg easily, but Quark's half-deaf ear (and severe exhaustion) required a more intense set of procedures. "At least you get to walk around sickbay. I'm still not allowed to leave the biobed."

The reminder seemed to put Odo at unease. He sounded even gruffer than usual when he replied, "Even so. It's for our own good, Quark."

Quark sighed. "Okay, fine, I'll get it myself."

He began propping himself up on his elbows, then paused to see if it would last. Bashir had cautioned him against overexerting himself, lest his weakened muscles need even more time to heal.

But his arms remained steady, even as he pushed himself up from his elbows onto his hands, and he managed to sit up the rest of the way easily.

"Hey," Quark said with a grin. "Maybe I'm making a miracle recovery." He swung his legs around to the edge of the biobed, then slid himself off to land on the floor. "The Ferengi constitution _is_ superior after -"

Suddenly his knees buckled and he collapsed with a squawk.

He heard Odo rush to sit up. "Quark! Are you all right?" A slight pause, then: "I'll never hear the end of it from Bashir if you've injured yourself in his sickbay."

"Thanks for the concern, _Constable,_ but I'm fine," Quark pouted from the floor. He scrabbled for the edge of the biobed and strained to pull himself back up, legs wobbling. "Almost had it."

"Humph! Stop being delusional, you almost gave yourself a concussion." Odo swung his legs over, then hopped off the biobed to walk over to him. "Here, I'll help you back in."

Just when Quark was about to retort that Odo could have helped him in the first place by just doing what he _asked_ , he felt Odo's hands on his waist, holding him steady and hoisting him up into the bed.

Odo's hands were strong and warm and he could feel Odo's warmth through his medical gown and the feeling went straight to Quark's lobes and cheeks.

He swallowed hard, thinking about how he wouldn't even have to turn his head all the way around to steal a kiss -

And then Quark's knee banged into the edge of the bed.

" _Ow_!"

"Sorry," Odo grumbled, immediately letting go of him.

Quark winced as the pain jarred him back to reality. A reality where Odo was merely helping him get back into bed after he fell flat on his ass in the middle of sickbay. _Sickbay!_ Possibly the least sexy place to fantasize about anyone.

Nevertheless, Quark's face still felt hot from blushing, so he made sure to turn away from Odo as he clambered back into the biobed.

"Thanks anyway, I guess," Quark mumbled, drawing the blanket back up over himself.

He waited for the sound of Odo returning to his own biobed, but didn't hear it.

Quark glanced back over his shoulder.

Odo was still standing there, arms folded, scrutinizing him from the narrow gap in between their respective biobeds.

"What?" Quark asked.

"Nothing," Odo said casually.

Which, of course, meant there was something.

Intrigued, Quark twisted all the way around to look up at him. "C'mon, Odo, spit it out."

"There's nothing _to_ 'spit out,' Quark."

"Sure." Underneath the blanket, Quark folded his arms as well. "I completely believe you were just staring at me in silence for no reason."

The corners of Odo's mouth twitched despite himself.

"Well?" Quark wiggled his head on the pillow in as sarcastic a head wiggle as he could muster.

"It's just..."

"Just what?"

Odo sounded uncomfortable again. "You don't weigh much."

"Uh... huh?"

"I could have carried both you and the transmitter, I think." Odo frowned. "Up the mountain. If I had to."

"Oh." Quark knitted his browridges. "Sure, I guess. Why think about it now?"

"I didn't _intend_ to think about it," Odo replied defensively, tightening his folded arms even more than Quark had thought they could be tightened. "You reminded me, so I couldn't help thinking about it."

"Okaaay, Constable," Quark replied peevishly, picking up on Odo's rude tone right away. "Sorry for wasting your precious mental energy, but you don't _have_ to think about it anymore, because we're safe now."

The reminder didn't lessen Odo's frown one bit. "Bashir said you could have suffered permanent hearing damage if the Defiant hadn't found us when it did."

"I _know_ ," Quark told him. He unfolded his arms to gather the blanket even more tightly around himself, partially because he was still cold, but mostly for the comforting sensation. "Thanks for reminding me."

"I wasn't -" Odo stopped, then grunted in a way that almost sounded amused. "Point taken."

"Great." Quark drew his knees up in a near-fetal position, curling up on his side for warmth, barely noticing how Odo's eyes drifted to his body.

Typical Constable, always suspicious of his movements.

"Really wish I had another blanket right now," Quark muttered, trying to think of who else on the Defiant could help him out with that particular acquisition. "I could ask Jadzia, but I hate interrupting her beauty sleep."

"So you'd rather interrupt mine instead?"

For a brief moment, Quark got the sense of something between the lines that he couldn't decipher fully. The dripping sarcasm had an undercurrent going beyond simple irritation. Almost as if Odo were _jealous_...

Nah. He was probably just imagining things.

"You don't need it," Quark told him, which maybe was his way of paying a compliment, but he wasn't about to give Odo the satisfaction of knowing that for sure. "Besides, if I tried to wake up Jadzia, I'd have woken you up _anyway_ because I'd have to use the comm system, and if I wake up Jadzia, that'll wake up Worf, and you know I'm on Worf's bad side already -"

The sound of flapping cloth made Quark shut up.

Odo's blanket settled down around him with a pleasant weight - Odo must have turned around and grabbed the blanket from the next biobed while Quark was talking - and the realization that he was now under _Odo'_ s blanket filled Quark with an inexplicable giddiness.

"There," Odo said, smoothing down the blanket he had just flung over Quark. His hands ghosted over Quark's shoulders as he straightened out the top edge. "Now you don't have to wake up anyone else, and I can go back to sleep."

Too flustered to think straight, Quark stared up at him from the pillow, mesmerized. Odo hovered over him, meticulously tucking him in, leaning so close to Quark that his breathing sounded louder than it ever did on the way to Inferna Prime. The sound filled Quark's ears with a hypnotizing intimacy, like listening to a special secret shared only between the two of them...

He shivered.

Odo paused. "You can't _possibly_ still be cold, Quark."

"Bet I can," Quark replied faintly, even though his cheeks were flushed and his face felt like it might burn off. He felt his cheeks with the back of his hand - freezing! - and eased into one of his favorite feelings: being right. "These blankets were designed with cold-blooded humans in mind," he whined. "They're not even as thick as the one we had on the mountain."

Odo sat down at the edge of the bed, just short of bumping his hip into Quark's thigh, and reached down to finger the top blanket. He grunted. "I _suppose_ these aren't very thick."

"I _know_ they aren't," Quark said airily, wracked with indecision over whether he should scoot closer. He tried not to think about how Odo was almost - not quite, but _almost -_ leaning close enough for a kiss. Mere centimeters away.

All he would have to do was reach up.

Biting his lip, Quark began moving his hand - just as Odo glanced back up.

Quark froze.

Odo gave him an inquiring look.

"If you're so cold," Odo said levelly, "why aren't you keeping your hand underneath the covers?"

"Um." Quark thought fast. "So you could feel how cold I am."

A contemptuous exhale. "Of course. And not because you happened to forget your own lie, perhaps?"

Quark let his hand flop back down onto the covers. "What?"

"Were you even cold at all?"

" _Why_ would I lie about being cold?" Quark snapped, voice rising.

"To make me feel guilty," Odo shot back, sounding far more bitter than the situation warranted. "That's what this entire charade's about, isn't it? Using every possible opportunity to remind me that you nearly died setting up that transmitter, _guilting_ me with your weakened body. What's next, Quark? A blanket today, a look in the other direction tomorrow?"

Quark narrowed his eyes. "Much as I hate to admit it, Odo, you don't _owe_ me anything for saving _both_ our lives, okay?"

"That's what you _would_ say if you were trying to guilt-trip me," Odo scoffed, glaring at him up and down. "Why should I believe you?"

Quark made a frustrated noise. "Because I'm telling the truth!"

"Just like you were telling the truth about being cold?"

" _Yes_ , actually -"

And Odo grabbed his hand.

The instant their fingers met, Quark heard a sharp intake of breath. Whether it came from him or from Odo, he couldn't tell, because it was soon followed up by another, heavier breath, and another, and another, and he was too stunned to bother figuring out who was breathing so loudly.

Odo's hand was very warm.

"You _are_ cold," Odo murmured, slowly massaging Quark's hand in his grasp.

"I wasn't lying," Quark said faintly.

"No, you weren't."

Silence fell between them as Odo continued inspecting Quark's hand. He ran this thumb along Quark's knuckles like he was trying to map them out through touch alone, while his fingertips gently pressed into the spaces between Quark's digits, forming a grasp that felt suspiciously closer to a caress.

Odo seemed unable to let go of him, which suited Quark just fine. He didn't feel like letting go, either.

Using his other hand, Quark propped himself up into a sitting position. His thigh bumped into Odo's, and Quark froze, wondering if he had broken whatever spell had previously been in place.

With nary more than a grunt of acknowledgement, Odo pulled Quark's hand even closer, then placed his other hand on top of Quark's, neatly enveloping Quark's hand in between his palms. He began rubbing his palms together around Quark's hand, warming it up.

Another kind of warmth quickly spread throughout Quark's touch-starved body. His lobes tingled as he concentrated on the electrifying pressure of Odo's hip digging into his thigh, and the intoxicating closeness of Odo's body next to his.

Then Odo bent his head forward and exhaled a hot breath between his cupped hands.

Quark stifled a whimper at the sudden stimulation. He pressed his thighs tightly together underneath the blanket, fighting the urge to squirm, mind flooded with thoughts of Odo making him moan by breathing on even more sensitive skin.

"Still cold?" Odo asked mildly, lifting his head up to scan Quark's face. He continued idly rubbing Quark's hand. "It might help if you lay back down."

Quark stared at him. "Huh?"

"On the bed?" Odo nodded downwards. "The blankets fell off when you sat up."

"Oh." Quark looked down and saw that he was right.

"And since you'll likely to complain about the cold again," Odo continued, "I suppose it's in my best interest to lie down with you."

As someone who had always trusted his hearing more than any of his other senses, it still took Quark a moment to believe his ears.

"Whuh?" Quark replied.

"So my body heat can help you stay warm." Odo eyed him levelly, but a faint uncertainty colored his voice. "If you want."

And Quark very much did want.

"I'm freezing," Quark said quickly, tightening his fingers in Odo's grasp so he could pull Odo back down onto the bed with him. "I bet these blankets are thinner than the napkins in my bar."

"It's inexcusable," Odo agreed, removing one of his hands so he could move the blankets aside and get underneath the covers with Quark. "The Federation should have better standards for their medical equipment."

"It's a complete and utter farce," Quark concurred. He scooted slightly to the side to give Odo some space to lie down. "Like this biobed - it's far too narrow. The designers should've anticipated that two people might need to use it at the same time."

A smile twitched at the corners of Odo's lips. "Completely shortsighted."

Another cozy silence fell between them as they gazed at each other from opposite ends of the pillow. Their clasped hands were now trapped between their chests, but Odo didn't seem to mind, and Quark certainly wasn't about to be the first to let go.

Using his other hand, Odo reached around Quark's back and pulled him close.

"So you don't fall off this poorly-designed bed," Odo murmured, tightening his arm around Quark's waist.

Quark nodded. "Very responsible of you."

Odo's gaze drifted down to his lips. "I do pride myself on being a responsible security officer."

"We all have our faults," Quark replied blithely, reveling in the warmth of Odo's hand as it traveled along the small of his back. "But I suppose -"

And then Odo muffled the rest of his sentence with a kiss.

Blood pounded in Quark's ears as he kissed back, moaning shamelessly into Odo's mouth. He reached up to caress the side of Odo's face, flitting from jaw to ear to absurdly smooth cheek, eager to touch as much of Odo as possible and regretting that he only had the one hand to do so.

Odo moved at a far more deliberate pace, flexing his fingers as he rested his hand on the small of Quark's back, and Quark got a thrill out of imagining what they would look like to anyone walking in on them - Odo's hand possessively snaked around Quark's back, and Quark leaning into Odo's embrace, head tilted back as Odo kissed him slowly, capturing his mouth again and again. The hand on his back gently pushed his hips forward, until he and Odo were grinding against each other through their medical gowns, which was far more sensual than it had any right to be.

Odo himself was far more sensual than he had any right to be, taking his time to bask Quark in slow kisses and assured caresses. Each gentle touch stoked a new flare of interest in Quark, teasing him with the promise of something more, and he was starting to get impatient.

"You can be rougher," Quark told him. "I can take it."

Odo paused to consider, his hand warm on Quark's back, tense. "I'd rather not."

But Quark could hear a shift in Odo's breath, and a firming hardness press against his thigh, and he wondered what kind of fantasies Odo might have. Nothing about their current situation resembled any of Odo's so-called literature, and nothing about Quark resembled a certain Major. He wished he knew how to provoke a stronger reaction.

As Odo resumed kissing his neck, Quark thought hard about the people he had slept with, and how he had turned them on (or at least tried to). The freighter crewmen liked it when he begged. He used to think only Ferengi responded to his desperate begging noises, but his mewls had been enjoyed by many a non-Ferengi since, especially on Risa...

Experimentally, he made a plaintive, needy sound. Odo made a soothing sort of grumble as he squeezed Quark's hand, but it still wasn't the kind of reaction Quark was looking for - he would have to be more obvious, it seemed. So he parted his legs around Odo's knee, straddling it almost, ready to give himself up for the taking, and Odo immediately rolled him over onto his back.

 _This is it_ , Quark thought, heart racing.

Odo slipped a hand underneath Quark's medical gown, lifting it up just enough to get at the lower half of his Federation-standard medical garb. He hooked a thumb on the inside of Quark's waistband, and Quark braced himself - but all Odo did was make an inquiring sort of hum, idly running his thumb along the inside of the elastic, stretching it minutely as he waited for Quark's response.

Somewhat perplexed by Odo's patient restraint, Quark removed his hand from Odo's and hooked his thumb in his waistband, tugging it down just enough to expose the top of his pelvic line. He smiled when Odo's breath hitched at the sight. With a flirty nod downwards, Quark leaned back against the bed and lifted his hips up, indicating he was ready for Odo to take over.

Odo quickly followed his lead, and Quark shivered as the thin material slid along his skin. A mixture of shame and arousal swirled within him - Ferengi men weren't supposed to be seen naked, and voluntarily letting someone else remove his clothes was just adding to the taboos Quark had broken already. He might have felt worse about it if it wasn't so thrilling.

As the cool sickbay air hit his bare thighs, Quark turned his head to the side and waited for Odo to finish stripping him.

A warm hand on his knee made him glance back at Odo, even as his face burned with the realization he was naked from the waist down.

"What's wrong?" Odo asked. He gave Quark's knee a squeeze.

"Nothing," Quark replied, surprised. He raised himself up enough to lean back on his elbows. "Why?"

"You looked away."

Quark blinked. "That doesn't mean anything."

"Are you sure?" Odo gave his knee another squeeze.

Quark licked his lips, then nodded. The sight of Odo kneeling between his bare legs was very distracting, and he could feel himself getting slick down below.

"You would tell me if I did something wrong," Odo stated, like it was a certainty and not a thing to question. "You always do."

Once more, Quark nodded. "Believe me, you'll know right away."

Odo smiled.

He reached for the hem of Quark's medical gown, and Quark instinctively turned his head aside, bracing himself for the inevitable. 

"Quark?" 

And Odo gently took hold of his chin, thumb lightly stroking the underside of Quark's bottom lip as he turned Quark's head back around.

"Go ahead," Quark told him, nodding downwards as much as Odo's hold on him allowed. "Take it off."

"Do you want me to?"

Quark huffed. "Well, _I'm_ not going to do it."

Odo let go of his chin. He maintained eye contact with Quark, but Quark got the sense he was looking at something else entirely - like a vision in his mind's eye.

"What are you waiting for?" Quark squirmed impatiently underneath Odo, wriggling until he was almost straddling Odo's thigh again. "Don't you want to?"

"Do _you_ want to?"

Quark gave him a quizzical look. "Huh?"

"Quark." Odo let go of his chin and settled his hand on Quark's waist, just underneath the hem of Quark's medical gown. "If you don't want me to take off the rest of your clothes, I won't."

Quark thought about the freighter, and how the marauders invariably liked stripping him slowly, eyes raking over every inch of his reluctantly revealed skin. They knew what they wanted and what they wanted to do to him, not like Odo, who kept _asking_ him things. He supposed Odo hadn't learned much from all those tepid Bajoran romances he had been reading. Might as well keep it simple, lest it lead to even more questions.

"Fine," Quark said. "You won't."

Odo grunted in confirmation. He lightly squeezed Quark's waist. "Besides, I seem to remember someone complaining about the temperature."

Quark nodded rapidly, grateful for the excuse. "Mm-hmm. Yep."

Odo leaned closer, pulling Quark's hips towards him. He stopped just short of pressing their bodies together again, and Quark rocked his hips upward, desperate for friction. 

"Are you _sure_ you're not too cold?" Odo teased.

Groaning in more than one kind of frustration, Quark yanked at the front of Odo's medical gown, dragging him forward for a passionate kiss.

They fell back against the pillow with a muffled grunt, Odo's hands traveling up to cradle his head as they kissed, hips surging against Quark's, rubbing him deliciously through the fabric between them. Quark hooked his ankles behind Odo's legs, trying to get him to hurry up, trying to at least get underneath Odo's clothes, but Odo merely kept touching him tenderly and kissing him deeply, seemingly too distracted with Quark's upper half to do much about the rest. And while the prolonged foreplay wasn't bad at all - Quark let out a broken whimper when Odo's fingertips started stroking the back of each ear - he was positively _aching_ with pent-up frustration, the kind that needed a much stronger release.

Distracted as he was by Odo nuzzling his neck, Quark managed to grab one of Odo's hands and guide it downwards.

Odo inhaled sharply as his fingers made contact with Quark's genital folds. "It's... you're aroused?"

Verbal replies were beyond Quark's abilities by that point, so he made a faint confirming noise and swiveled his hips onto Odo's hand. Before Odo could ask anything further, Quark grasped at two of Odo's fingers and held them together, positioning them underneath himself, then pushed them inside. 

Odo's breathing became noticeably heavier as his fingers slid into Quark. He dropped his head onto Quark's shoulder, swallowing hard as he came to terms with Quark's open desire, and Quark sank down onto Odo's digits with a loud, wordless whine.

"Careful, Quark. You'll wake the whole ship," Odo murmured, lifting his head up. He stroked the back of Quark's head with his free hand. 

"Don't care," Quark gasped, then cut himself off with another noise as he felt Odo's hand begin to move. "Been waiting long enough."

"Mm." Odo chuckled softly. "You didn't ask me for a blanket _that_ long ago."

"No, earlier," Quark ground out in a strained voice, pulsing around Odo's fingers. 

A deep inhale. Odo's hand slowed down. "How much earlier?"

"Odo, don't stop -"

He shivered as Odo leaned close to his ear, voice low and gravelly, each word releasing a hot breath on his skin. "Tell me. How much earlier, Quark?"

"You can't expect me to remember _now_ ," Quark whined, rolling his hips down in vain - Odo's chest kept him pinned down to the bed. "Odo, please, it's been years - _ah!_ -"

The rough nuzzle at his ear made Quark arch into Odo's chest. He reached up to clutch at Odo's shoulders with trembling hands, and Odo began moving inside him again.

"Years," Odo repeated. His hand maintained a slow and steady pace, but it was trembling. "So. All that time on the runabout."

"What about the runabout?" Quark asked, too preoccupied with impaling himself on Odo's fingers to ponder the connection.

"You were aroused." Unabashed satisfaction entered Odo's voice. "By me."

Quark couldn't help clenching wetly around Odo's fingers, mind racing with possibilities at the thought of Odo _knowing_. "You knew? How did you know?"

"Not then, but..." Odo dipped his head to take a long, languorous sniff of Quark's neck. "I did notice whenever you smelled... different."

"Different in a good or bad way?" Because Quark had no idea what he'd do if Odo didn't like the way he smelled. 

"Just different." Odo's fingers slowed inside Quark again, and Quark started squirming on them, tightening his thighs around Odo's waist. "Not in a bad way."

"Oh, okay." Quark supposed that was basically the same as 'good.' On the way to good, hopefully. "Guess the Founders gave you a heightened sense of smell, too. No wonder you don't like eating or drinking much."

Odo's low chuckle pleasantly vibrated in his ear. "Yes. And for once, I'm starting not to mind this body."

"Yeah?" Quark meant to sound flirty and teasing, but mostly he just sounded breathy. "Because I don't mind it either."

Abruptly, Odo removed his fingers and leaned away to sit back on his haunches. Before Quark could complain about Odo's sudden absence, Odo had already pulled his medical gown over his head and tossed it aside onto the next biobed, and Quark grew quiet as he admired Odo's lean physique.

As they gazed at each other, Odo looked almost defensive at first, like he expected Quark to say something he didn't want to hear. His face gradually relaxed under Quark's appreciative stare, and he smiled faintly as he reached down to slide off his trousers. 

Quark propped himself back on his elbows to get a better look. He almost whistled - the Founders certainly hadn't skimped in solidifying _that_ particular area. 

"Lecher," Odo noted fondly. "You're staring, Quark."

Quark grinned. "Start using it, and I'll stop staring."

Sighing, but mostly just to make a show of sighing, Odo tossed the trousers onto the next biobed. He twisted in a way that flexed his modest amount of muscle, moving with just enough self-consciousness that Quark could tell Odo was showing off deliberately. Like he needed any more convincing.

Just when Quark was thinking he should roll over onto his stomach, Odo placed a hand on his shoulder and gently pushed down.

Quark fell back onto the bed with a soft thump, looking up at Odo, heart pounding, lobes tingling, eyes wide open. He gasped as Odo's fingers dipped back inside him, curling to collect his natural lubrication, and he instinctively tried to thrust back onto them.

Odo squeezed his shoulder, leaned close to speak in his ear. "Soon, Quark."

As Odo withdrew his fingers, Quark reached up to caress his face, twisting on the bed to kiss him. Odo kissed him back, lazy and slow, one hand braced on Quark's shoulder, the other reaching down to stroke himself.

Quark squirmed impatiently as Odo slicked himself up, blushing furiously at the new sounds filling his ears. He ran his hand through Odo's hair and wondered if he would need to guide Odo again, pull him in, when he felt the head of Odo's cock gently rub against his folds.

The light pressure teased him, nudged him open. Quark could feel himself growing wetter by the second, so much that the head easily popped inside, and they both paused to adjust to the new sensation, panting hard. Odo buried his face into Quark's neck, scorching Quark's lobes with the raw, primal urgency of his muffled breathing. His fingers clutched at Quark's shoulder and hip, and Quark let out a shaky sigh as Odo continued pushing forward at an agonizingly careful pace, stretching him wider the further he went.

Finally, Quark whimpered hard as Odo bottomed out inside him, sheathed completely.

He knew it was Odo's first time, but to Quark it felt like _he_ was discovering sex for the first time, marveling at the sheer pleasure of being so close to another person. 

His eyes flew open as he felt Odo grab for his hand and intertwine their fingers. The gesture felt far more intimate now that Odo was inside him, and Quark moaned softly as Odo pinned his hand down to the bed, fingers flexing in between his own.

With a fond squeeze of his hand, Odo began thrusting.

High-pitched little gasps escaped from the back of Quark's throat as he was stretched to ecstasy. His inner muscles quivered around Odo's cock with each thrust, and he tried to pay attention to what he could do to make Odo lose some of that habitual composure - a plaintive touch here, a soft moan there - but he still couldn't figure it out. _Everything_ he did seemed to encourage Odo, whose hips jerked and stuttered like he was trying to prolong their fucking, but couldn't help his body's urge to pound Quark into the bed.

Face half-buried in Quark's neck, Odo managed to groan out his name before slamming into Quark with one last, hard thrust, and Quark gasped at the sensation of suddenly being flooded with Odo's release.

Almost immediately, Odo reached up to caress Quark's ears. His strokes were rougher and less finessed in his post-coital daze, but his method was correct and, most importantly of all, deeply satisfying.

It was short work before Quark felt his own orgasm approaching, mounting and mounting inside of him until he couldn't take it anymore, and he muffled his cries in Odo's shoulder as he came.

 

* * *

 

"If I were still a Changeling," Odo mused dreamily, "we could have gone much longer."

"Yeah?" Quark asked, feeling very cozy as Odo spooned him. "Felt long enough to me."

"I suppose." Odo lightly ran his hand up Quark's arm. "Do you mind if I stay?"

"In the biobed?" Quark made a sound of assent. "If you want."

"I do."

Odo stifled a yawn, then scooted closer onto the pillow, nuzzling the crook of Quark's neck.

"Next time," Odo mumbled sleepily into his ear, "we'll be in my quarters."

"There'll be a next time?" Quark asked, then tried to pretend he hadn't been genuinely surprised. "I mean, sure. If you want."

"Soundproofing," Odo said, and Quark waited for more to follow, but Odo didn't say anything further. Twisting around, Quark saw that Odo had fallen fast asleep.

"Oh," Quark said, then realized Odo couldn't hear.

He was starting to get drowsy himself. He moved aside the tangle of blankets around them to snuggle closer, then gently stroked the back of Odo's head, thinking.

"You're going to have to explain this to Bashir in the morning," Quark decided.

He figured they could worry about cleaning up later.

For now, Quark was content to sleep, and for once, his dreams were sweet.

 

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by a terrible (but obviously very accurate) caption from [oomoxforfunandprofit](https://oomoxforfunandprofit.tumblr.com/post/171500546124/the-ascent-the-episode-where-against-all-odds). 
> 
> thanks for reading!


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